THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME — Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice to help Inter Milan beat AS Roma 4-0 Sunday to take the lead in the Serie A standings and leave its top rival from the last two seasons nine points behind.
With Christian Panucci and Philippe Mexes both suspended, Roma’s makeshift central defensive pair of Simone Loria and Juan struggled to contain Ibrahimovic, who scored at the beginning of each half.
Dejan Stankovic and surprise starter Victor Obinna added goals in the 54th and 56th minutes at Stadio Olimpico.
“The team really moved well today. We were intelligent and our hard work paid off,” Inter coach Jose Mourinho said. “Winning 4-0 in a special game like this is really important.”
Inter improved to 16 points, two ahead of Udinese, Catania and Napoli, while Roma remained on seven points.
Ibrahimovic received a pass behind the defence and calmly lifted the ball over charging goalkeeper Alexander Doni in the fifth minute as Roma waited for an offside call that never came.
The Sweden centre forward struck again in the 47th with an angled shot past Juan after Loria fell to the ground
Stankovic notched his first of the season with a shot from just beyond the area in the 54th that banged in off the post. Obinna scored his first goal for Inter two minutes later from nearly the same spot and celebrated with a series of back flips.
Roma fans responded by whistling at their team, which has now lost four of its first seven games after losing only four all of last season.
Inter also scored four goals against Roma a year ago, winning 4-1.
“Inter right now is a team that fights and runs,” Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said. “They play modern football.”
Inter edged Roma for its third consecutive Serie A title courtesy of Ibrahimovic’s heroics in the final half hour of last season. It then got the best of Roma again in a penalty shootout in the Italian Super Cup in August.
Roma only has three days to regroup before its visit to Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday, while Inter hosts Anorthosis Famagusta of Cyprus.
“We’ve got a chance to put this ugly loss behind us,” said Roma captain Francesco Totti, who made his first start for the Serie A since undergoing knee surgery in April.
In a surprise, Mourinho started Obinna on one flank with Ricardo Quaresma wide on the other, surrounding Ibrahimovic in his preferred 4-3-3 lineup and leaving Adriano on the bench.
Totti was supported by Mirko Vucinic on the left wing in Spalletti’s 4-2-3-1 lineup.
Vucinic was joined in midfield by Daniele De Rossi, Alberto Aquilani and Simone Perrotta, each of whom performed well in Italy’s 2-1 win over Montenegro on Wednesday.
“The result seems like a lie. They converted their chances and we were just unlucky with ours,” Spalletti said.
Roma took the initiative with a long shot from John Arne Riise in the fifth that goalkeeper Julio Cesar calmly collected, but Ibrahimovic scored seconds later.
Juan returned from injury for Roma, and he nearly scored an own-goal on a miscalculated clearance attempt in the ninth minute following a corner.
Inter controlled play deep inside Roma’s area for long stretches at the beginning of the half, with Maicon missing a close chance in the 14th and Doni forced to tip a long shot from Quaresma wide in the 22nd.
Roma was limited to counterattacks at the start, and Daniele De Rossi missed wide from just beyond the area in the 16th.
Totti provided a perfect setup for Simone Perrotta in the 34th but the Italy midfielder was offside and the goal was disallowed.
Roma started to organize itself as the first half wore on, and Totti provided a cross into the area in the 43rd that Vucinic headed high off an Inter defender. On the ensuing corner, Loria also sent a header wide.
Inter scored on its first three opportunities of the second half, and Mourinho drew more whistles and boos from the crowd when he inserted Amantino Mancini for Quaresma in the 68th. Mancini transferred from Roma to Inter in the off-season.
With the result certain, Roma coach Luciano Spalletti removed Totti in the 68th, putting on new French forward Jeremy Menez.
In the 72nd, Maicon hit the post with a header off of a free kick from Mancini.
Ibrahimovic tapped Loria on the head in a consolation gesture when he was replaced by Julio Ricardo Cruz in the 82nd.